Category:Unending Codex

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The Unending Codex is a collection of Lore entries about various NPCs and important Concepts. Entries are unlocked while progressing through the Main Story Quests, starting with Patch 6.1.

Unending Codex Icon.pngTataru
Acquired from: Newfound Adventure
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Tataru Taru
Scion of the Seventh Dawn
Coinkeeper
Though publicly known as the organization's receptionist, Tataru also serves as the Scions' coinkeeper─a role she executes with an enthusiastic cunning that borders on the terrifying.

Born to Ul'dahn merchants, the young Tataru had everything a Lalafell could ask for─until her family lost it all to bankruptcy. Plagued by debt and still smarting from this abrupt introduction to the harsh realities of the sultanate, she apprenticed herself to a lapidary at the age of twelve, and henceforth supported the household with her meager earnings. It was during this period that she met Minfilia─a miner come to sell gems and ore─who would later recruit Tataru to oversee the Path of the Twelve's finances.

Tataru, in turn, resolved to use her newfound position not only to accrue personal wealth, but also to serve others. Indeed, when the Path of the Twelve relocated to the Waking Sands, and her role was expanded to include secretarial duties, she used her considerable social acumen to build relationships and increase its influence. As the organization slowly but surely grew into an association of like-minded and gifted souls, she was instrumental in seeking out potential members blessed with the Echo.

After the Seventh Umbral Calamity, when the Path of the Twelve merged with the Circle of Knowing to form the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, Tataru continued her tenure as secretary and coinkeeper combined. When the political situation in Ul'dah drove the Scions from their headquarters for a time, she journeyed with Alphinaud and the Warrior of Light to Ishgard, that they might there regroup and rebuild the organization. Later, she accompanied a contingent of Scions to the Far East, where she established ties with the East Aldenard Trading Company's Kugane branch in order to fund local anti-imperial resistance efforts─one of her many laudable ventures on the Scions' behalf.

Privately, Tataru has long regretted her inability to assist her comrades in martial endeavors, and thus sought to train as an arcanist. Alas, these efforts met with misfortune, including the escape of her Carbuncle companion, and so she has since resolved to provide financial support through trades such as mining and weaving. In so doing, she has become something of a master artisan─going so far as to establish her own boutique in Old Sharlayan─yet she always manages to find the time to fashion new outfits for her Scion friends when they stand poised upon the threshold of journeys new.

Unending Codex Icon.pngThe Scions of the Seventh Dawn
Acquired from: Newfound Adventure
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The Scions of the Seventh Dawn
This secret society was the product of a merger between the Circle of Knowing, led by Louisoix Leveilleur, and the Path of the Twelve, led by Minfilia Warde, following the Seventh Umbral Calamity.

Working in concert with the leaders of Eorzea, the Scions strove to address the myriad problems that plagued the realm, be it the godlike primals, the imperialistic Garleans, or the scheming Ascians─beings who have long shaped history from the shadows. As a means to achieve its objectives, the society sought out those blessed with the Echo, a mysterious power with myriad manifestations, the most notable of which was the ability to walk in the memories of others. It was for this reason they extended an invitation to the Warrior of Light.

On account of their contributions in dealing with several primals and the XIVth Imperial Legion, the Scions' existence became public knowledge. Utilizing their newfound reputation, Alphinaud Leveilleur founded the Crystal Braves, a military organization intended to pave the way for a unified Eorzea. However, the society's activities had made it the target of a Monetarist faction of Ul'dah, and an elaborate betrayal by Alphinaud's presumed allies resulted in the Scions being framed for the sultana's assassination. Though branded fugitives and scattered for a time, they eventually learned of a plot within a plot that saw the monarch put into a deep slumber rather than slain, and succeeded in clearing their names.

Their honor restored, the Scions went on to become key players in the liberation of Ala Mhigo and Doma from imperial rule, and after helping to avert the Final Days, they judged their mission fulfilled. So it was that they announced their disbandment─at least outwardly─and retreated from plain sight to labor in secret once more.

Unending Codex Icon.pngThe Final Days
Acquired from: Newfound Adventure
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The Final Days
This dreadful calamity befell the star in the distant past, when it was known as Etheirys.

In that shining age, men had the power to manifest anything at will, even living beings, and through this miraculous creation magick their civilization thrived. One day, however, following a keening sound from the land, their magicks ran rampant, giving form to eldritch horrors born of fear and despair. Their blissful lives became a waking nightmare, and mankind was driven to the brink of extinction.

The Convocation of Fourteen, the people's chosen representatives, observed that the phenomenon manifested where the celestial currents, the star's outermost flow of aether, had grown weak and stagnant. In order to address this deficiency, they summoned forth the mighty Zodiark to exert control over the laws of creation. Though this act demanded a high price─the sacrifice of half of mankind's remaining number─the vast majority willingly rendered up their lives, and thus were the Final Days forestalled.

Over the intervening millennia, this star-encompassing calamity had faded from memory. But faced with its second coming as engineered by the Telophoroi, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn embarked upon a desperate quest for the truth. At length, they discovered that an ancient named Hermes had created Meteion, a being capable of traversing the great expanse, to ascertain the meaning of life by seeking out other civilizations in the universe. Alas, Meteion and her sisters found naught but despair, driving them to conclude life was suffering and death the sole mercy. Fleeing to the edge of existence, they became the Endsinger, and proceeded to unleash the power of dynamis, an esoteric energy set in motion by feelings, to usher all stars to their doom, that life need not continue in vain.

Despite seemingly insurmountable odds, the Scions held fast to hope, and amidst darkest despair lit the way for their champion as they confronted the Endsinger at her nest. And at the end of a fierce battle, they emerged triumphant, and put an end to the Final Days once and for all.

Unending Codex Icon.pngEstinien
Acquired from: Bountiful Ruins
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Estinien Varlineau
Scion of the Seventh Dawn
Dragoon
One of Ishgard's most capable knights, Estinien─called “Wyrmblood” by many─once led his order as the renowned Azure Dragoon.

Estinien's origins are humble, having been born to a family of sheepherders in the eastern highlands of Coerthas. However, the course of his pastoral life was forever changed when his village of Ferndale was razed by the great wyrm Nidhogg─an attack which claimed the lives of his parents and his brother.

Bereft of home and family, the orphan of twelve summers was taken in by Alberic, then holder of the title of Azure Dragoon. The two proceeded to forge a complicated relationship. A martial instructor, an adoptive father, and a flawed knight─one who failed to protect his family. To the young Estinien, Alberic was all these things and more.

When his training was complete, Estinien joined the Temple Knights. So focused was he on the fight against the Dravanian Horde that he scarcely remembered the names of his companions. His sole friendship was with Aymeric de Borel, a knight of similar age who shared Estinien's passion for the cause. Estinien's prowess saw him rise through the ranks, first becoming a dragoon, and later inheriting the title of Azure Dragoon once held by his foster father.

Like all Azure Dragoons, Estinien would carry with him the Eye of Nidhogg─a relic torn from the wyrm's head over a thousand years ago. Though the Eye conferred power to the bearer, it rendered them vulnerable to Nidhogg's influence, and his undying hatred threatened to consume Estinien's very soul. Only through constant vigilance and strength of will did Estinien maintain a grip on his sanity─though there were occasions when he came perilously close to succumbing to Nidhogg's rancor.

In the midst of the Dragonsong War, Estinien offered to accompany the Warrior of Light and Alphinaud Leveilleur in their quest to convince the Dravanians to renounce their thousand-year campaign of vengeance. Though he did not believe they would succeed, Estinien nevertheless agreed to eschew violence─unless circumstances forced his hand. They were later joined by Ysayle, leader of the heretics, who similarly believed peace an unlikely prospect, but one still worth pursuing in earnest.

Estinien traveled with the others to the Churning Mists, where they sought an audience with Hraesvelgr, brother of Nidhogg. From the great wyrm they learned the truth of the Dragonsong War: that it was King Thordan of ancient Ishgard who drew first blood when he and his knights murdered the great wyrm Ratatoskr, and subsequently devoured her eyes so that they might claim her power for themselves. Yet in spite of this truth, the fact remained that Nidhogg was intent upon the destruction of Ishgard, and if he could not be persuaded to yield, they had but one recourse. In the end, the Azure Dragoon succeeded in hunting down and slaying his archenemy, presumably ending the thousand-year war.

Upon their return to the capital, Estinien and his companions discovered that Archbishop Thordan VII had plotted to wield the power of a primal to transform himself into an eternal god-king and bless the world with his twisted idea of harmony. They pursued the archbishop to Azys Lla, where they put an end to his machinations once and for all. However, in the wake of the battle, Estinien succumbed to the all-consuming hatred within Nidhogg's two eyes, transforming into a vessel for the wyrm's shade that would marshal his forces for a final assault on Ishgard. Following his defeat on the Steps of Faith, Estinien regained partial control and urged Alphinaud and the Warrior of Light to kill him, but instead the two tore the eyes from his body, casting out Nidhogg's shade and saving the dragoon's life.

With his homeland entering an age of peace, Estinien renounced his title of Azure Dragoon and set off on a journey of his own. Even during these wanderings, though, he stayed abreast of the Scions' activities, and participated in both the liberation of Ala Mhigo and sabotage efforts within Garlemald. In time, he gave in to the relentless solicitations of Tataru and Krile, officially becoming a Scion and working tirelessly with his comrades to deliver the world from the calamity known as the Final Days.

Following his long journey from archnemesis of dragons to their friend and brother, Estinien renamed his lance Nidhogg after his fallen foe. Though he is still a lone wolf at heart, he travels more often with others than before─such as to the isle of Thavnair, where he has forged a new friendship with Vrtra, another of the first brood.

Unending Codex Icon.pngG'raha
Acquired from: Friends for the Road
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G'raha Tia
Scion of the Seventh Dawn
All-rounder
A relatively recent addition to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, G'raha Tia hails from Corvos in southern Ilsabard, where the Allagan Empire once flourished during the Third Astral Era. Although the Miqo'te were once forced to toil in obscurity for the glory of Allag, G'raha Tia's tribe, ever proud, devoted themselves to the study and preservation of arcane secrets. Thousands of years later, when Corvos was conquered by the Garleans and brought under the jurisdiction of the illustrious House Darnus, a young G'raha─heir to vast stores of Allagan knowledge and the last child born with the Allagan Eye, was given into the custody of the Students of Baldesion.

After acquiring Sharlayan citizenship and freedom from more mundane duties, G'raha concentrated on his education, earning his Archon's mark for his groundbreaking research into ancient arcane wisdom. Owing to these qualifications, G'raha Tia was tasked with the vital duty of investigating the Crystal Tower, the most fascinating and forbidding of the surviving relics of the Allagan Empire. It was during this expedition that he met with Rammbroes of the Sons of Saint Coinach, Cid Garlond of the Ironworks, and the Warrior of Light─an occasion which led to the formation of the fellowship known as NOAH.

With his newfound companions he laid bare the secrets of ancient Allag, and learned from the awakened clones Unei and Doga that the eye he inherited was in truth the Royal Eye, the unmistakable mark of the Allagan imperial family. With it, he could control the Crystal Tower itself, per the wishes of Salina, the final princess of Allag, who had chosen to pass down this gift and place her trust in future generations.

Judging that mankind was not yet ready for the secrets of the Crystal Tower, G'raha Tia sealed himself within it, in the hope that he might awaken in an age when his fellow man had set aside their differences─when they might truly comprehend and wield the Allagan knowledge for the benefit of all.

Alas, when G'raha awoke from his slumber two hundred years later, the world had been ravaged by tragedy and death, for the Eighth Umbral Calamity had come to pass. Biggs─third of his name and eighteenth chairman of Garlond Ironworks─had cracked the tower's wards, seeking to harness the power within to develop a means of time travel, that they might forge a future in which the Calamity had never occurred. G'raha agreed to lend them his aid, and so it was that he and the Crystal Tower were transported into the past─not of their world, the Source, but of the reflection known as the First, where fate would once again see him reunited with the Warrior of Light.

The First, for its part, had suffered a calamity no less daunting than that of the Source. A Flood of Light had nearly extinguished all life, and what little remained was beset by horrors born of the phenomenon known as sin eaters. Unaged due to his symbiosis with the Crystal Tower, an ever-youthful G'raha Tia took the initiative in building the Crystarium─a city and bulwark of hope where he and his growing community would stand against these foes.

For a hundred years, the Crystal Exarch─as G'raha Tia had come to be known─laid the groundwork for the coming battle, for he had always known that he could not triumph without the Warrior of Light. When the time came, he summoned the champion and their allies─albeit accidentally─from the Source, assembling a formidable alliance to take up arms against the Lightwardens and reclaim the long-absent night sky.

The final step in G'raha Tia's plan would have seen him render up his own life for the preservation of the First and the Source. Blessedly, this sacrifice did not come to pass. Ultimately, the Warrior of Light and their brave companions succeeded in laying low the Ascians Emet-Selch and Elidibus, ending the threat of an Eighth Umbral Calamity and giving the First hope for a brighter tomorrow.

When the Scions at last returned to their own world, they did not do so alone. G'raha Tia had conceived a method in which his memories and essence in the First could be merged with his past self still sleeping within the Crystal Tower of the Source. The awoken G'raha Tia eagerly joined the ranks of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and proceeded to employ his ample knowledge of all things Allagan, as well as the leadership skills he honed as the Crystal Exarch, to provide invaluable guidance and support to his companions. In particular, his decisive actions in Thavnair during the Final Days ensured the survival of countless innocents.

After the de facto disbanding of the Scions, G'raha Tia joined Krile in helping to rebuild the Students of Baldesion. However, he has not yet shaken his wanderlust, and will not hesitate to seize any opportunity to embark upon a new journey with the Warrior of Light.

Unending Codex Icon.pngKrile
Acquired from: Friends for the Road
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Krile Baldesion
Scion of the Seventh Dawn
Mage
Orphaned as a child and taken in by Galuf Baldesion, founder of the eponymous Students of Baldesion, Krile was blessed with power of the Echo─though in her early years it seemed to her more a curse. Uncommonly sensitive to the feelings of others, unwelcome thoughts flooded her mind, leading her to develop a guarded personality that many found off-putting. Seeing this, Galuf gave her a cat-eared hood, assuring her that her gift was not something to be bemoaned, and that it would one day prove a tremendous strength. Moved by her grandfather's words, Krile vowed to devote herself to her studies, that she might use her power to serve the greater good.

Displaying a remarkable aptitude in the mystic arts, Krile attended the Studium in Sharlayan, joining the Faculty of the Arcane and becoming highly skilled in healing and curing magicks. It was at this time that she made the acquaintance of Alphinaud and Alisaie Leveilleur, with whom she maintains a close friendship to this day. After graduation, she joined her grandfather's research organization, eventually coming to Eorzea to support the Scions of the Seventh Dawn as they rebuilt their operation following the bloody banquet in Ul'dah. She lent her impressive knowledge of the arcane to the search for the missing Minfilia.

Krile chose to remain in Eorzea for the foreseeable future, both out of a desire to support her friends, and for lack of a home to which she might return. Prior to her arrival, the Isle of Val was obliterated by a devastating spell akin to Ultima. While she herself was on the isle at the time, she was saved by the blessing of Light, and so she naturally fell in with the Scions. She soon became a full-fledged member, and thenceforth used her command of the Echo to serve her comrades on many an occasion.

Krile suffered a particularly harrowing experience when she was captured as a prisoner of war by the Garleans during the campaign to liberate Ala Mhigo. Her Echo made her a target, as the magitek engineer Aulus mal Asina sought to study the phenomenon and create an artificial variant. He succeeded in this endeavor, transforming Fordola rem Lupis and Zenos yae Galvus into beings he dubbed the Resonant. Krile was later rescued by the Scions, and after recovering from the ordeal resolved to repay the favor. Indeed, when her companions were forcefully summoned to the First and left in a comatose state, Krile took the lead in nursing the Scions back to health.

With the appearance of the Telephoroi and the looming threat of the Final Days, Krile returned to Sharlayan in hopes of gauging the true intentions of their governing body, the Forum, which to that point had stubbornly refused to approve any aid to Eorzea. Subsequently, she would use her influence as representative of the Students of Baldesion to arrange for her friends to visit Old Sharlayan.

Now that the Final Days have been averted and the Scions ostensibly disbanded, Krile has devoted herself to the restoration of the Students, recruiting the precious few survivors she has found, along with new talent, that together they might carry on her late grandfather's legacy and preserve their knowledge for future generations.

Unending Codex Icon.pngY'shtola
Acquired from: Friends for the Road
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Y'shtola Rhul
Scion of the Seventh Dawn
Sorceress
Displaying prodigious aptitude for magic from a young age, Y'shtola—at the behest of the Sharlayan Forum—was sent to Master Matoya for tutelage at the tender age of seven. Resentful of having to mind a child instead of pursuing her own research, the revered Archon was a stern taskmaster, imposing upon her new student one harsh trial after the next. Y'shtola, for her part, did not shirk from these formidable tasks, eventually winning the approval of her mentor—who doubtless saw in the stubborn Miqo'te girl shades of her own self as a child. After ten years of training, Y'shtola emerged from Matoya's cave a woman grown, possessed of vast knowledge and skill in the arcane that easily earned her the title of Archon.

Striking out on her own, Y'shtola joined the Circle of Knowing, led by her mentor's colleague and friend Louisoix Leveilleur. Sailing to Eorzea, she assisted her friends in their efforts in Limsa Lominsa in the fateful days leading up to the Seventh Umbral Calamity. During that time, she won the trust of Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn, to whom she lent invaluable assistance in rebuilding the Eorzean Alliance, which had theretofore devolved into a shell of its former glory. After Louisoix gave his life on the fields of Carteneau, Y'shtola became one of the founding members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, formed by the merger of her own Circle of Knowing with a like-minded organization, the Path of the Twelve.

Together with her new companions, she worked tirelessly to quell the threat of the primals and defend Eorzea from the invasion of Garlemald's XIVth Imperial Legion. When the Scions were caught up in the political coup in Ul'dah, it was Y'shtola's command of forbidden and ancient teleportation magicks that allowed her and Thancred to escape the clutches of the villainous Crystal Braves. Left to wander the Lifestream as a result of this, she was on the verge of being lost forever to the aetheric currents when she was rescued and called back to this world through the efforts of Kan-E-Senna and the Warrior of Light. Y'shtola awoke from her coma to find she had lost the physical ability of sight, gaining in its stead the power to see aether in the environment around her. This gift is a double-edged sword, however—for while it allows her to remain a formidable presence in battle, the strain it places on her mind and energies is often great.

Having recovered her strength, Y'shtola joined her fellow Scions in their exploits across Eorzea, traveling to Azys Lla to depose the mad Archbishop Thordan VII and bring the Dragonsong War to an end, then playing a key role in the liberation of Ala Mhigo.

Y'shtola once again suffered a harrowing experience when her soul was accidentally forcefully summoned to the First by the Crystal Exarch. Assuming the alias “Matoya” in honor of her mentor and concealing her true identity, she befriended the Night's Blessed, a group of Dark-worshipers who made their home in the depths of the Rak'tika Greatwood. It was around this time that Y'shtola came to make extensive use of destructive magicks to complement the healing and curing arts at which she had always excelled.

After the Scions succeeded in restoring the darkness to the Light-blighted First, they returned home to the Source, where Y'shtola would again play an invaluable role in averting the dark designs of the Telophoroi—in the end journeying with her friends to Ultima Thule to deliver their world from the Final Days.

Having long served the now-disbanded Scions with her boundless knowledge and puissant sorcery, Y'shtola now strives to find an answer to the universe's most fundamental question—seeking the truth of creation to honor the legacy of her mentor, Master Matoya.

Unending Codex Icon.pngHydaelyn
Acquired from: Friends for the Road
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Hydaelyn
Primal
The will of the star, 'tis She who has long kept Etheirys turning.

Tales of Hydaelyn's call and the singular power it was said to bestow─the Echo─ have been recorded throughout history. The nature of this power was not wholly understood, and it was often conflated with another of Her gifts, the “blessing of Light,” which ensured one's aether would remain uncorrupted by primal tempering. The chosen few also spoke of being summoned to the heart of the star where, according to their testaments, awaited a pure and towering crystal. It is likely that said testaments gave rise to the appellation “Mothercrystal,” as well as the usage of “Hydaelyn” to refer to the star itself, though the precise point at which these terms became commonplace remains unknown. While many sought further knowledge of Her nature─the Sharlayan Forum foremost among them─few ascertained Hydaelyn's true identity: a primal with an ancient, Venat, at Her core.

In a time before time, society was governed by the Convocation of Fourteen, upon which Venat held the seat of Azem. An indefatigable and insatiably curious individual, she tired of the academic approach to natural studies, and resolved instead to travel the star and seek its truths through firsthand experience─a journey that she continued even after she abdicated her position. One day, during a visit to Elpis, she chanced to meet with the Warrior of Light, who had come from the future with a warning of calamities to come. Thus did she learn of the Final Days that would befall Etheirys, and of this tragedy's ultimate cause: Meteion, bearer of myriad fallen worlds' despair.

To prevent the obliteration of all life, Venat embarked upon a quest that would span millennia. Offering up her own flesh and soul, she summoned and became Hydaelyn. She sundered Her people, who yearned for a past that could never be restored; the god Zodiark, manifestation of that ill-fated wish; and the star itself, which She loved so dearly, into fourteen pieces. The god of Darkness was gaoled within the sundered worlds' moons, and their people condemned to a fragile and imperfect existence forevermore. However, She knew that from their imperfection─their suffering─would arise the strength to face deepest despair.

So passionate was Her love for mankind, so unwavering Her faith in its potential, that Hydaelyn would never, in the eons that followed, waver in Her belief. Even as shard after shard fell to calamity and were rejoined with the Source, empowering Zodiark as it enervated Her in turn, She stayed the course, awaiting the day when man would prove himself worthy. When at last the time came, and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn triumphed over Her in a battle that burned through Her very soul, She faded away with a smile on her lips and peace in her heart.

Though the Warrior of Light and their comrades would go on to follow the path She had shown them, Hydaelyn was no more. Her love for Her children, however, is eternal.

Unending Codex Icon.pngThe Reflections
Acquired from: Friends for the Road
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The Reflections
Though few are aware of their true nature, these worlds exist in parallel to the one in which we live, the Source.

In order to weaken and imprison Zodiark, Hydaelyn mustered Her strength and sundered the very fabric of reality, causing the world to be split into fourteen shards, akin to identical, diluted images. Being reflections, the geographical features of these worlds are naturally similar, akin to observing the original through a looking glass. But over the course of millennia, the peoples of each have lived disparate lives and histories, and some variance has manifested in the environment itself as well. Since the reflections were birthed forth, seven have been lost, sacrificed in the Ascians' quest to restore the ancient world.

Curiously, while the reflections are displaced from each other, the boundaries between them are not uniform; certain worlds, such as the First and the Thirteenth, are more readily accessible from the Source, while others are not. One theory posits that the worlds exist within pockets of reality that are arranged in a pattern not unlike the numbers on a clockface, and that it is easier to travel to an adjacent reflection.

Unending Codex Icon.pngThe Crystal Tower
Acquired from: Friends for the Road
Unending Codex
The Crystal Tower
Approximately six millennia ago, when the world still languished in the aftermath of the Third Umbral Calamity, there arose a man who led an army of mages on a campaign of conquest. Xande would go on to found the storied Allagan Empire, as well as marry the secrets of magic and wisdom of science to create aetherochemistry. Through advances in this miraculous field, he expanded his dominion to encompass the continents of Aldenard, Ilsabard, and Othard.

However, generations of peace and prosperity gave rise to decadence, and a thousand years after the nation's birth, progress all but ground to a halt. The people grew complacent, abandoning learning and drowning themselves in leisure, and society stagnated. None lamented this deplorable state of affairs more than a technologist named Amon.

Desiring to restore his nation to its former glory, Amon brought Emperor Xande back from the grave. Under the founding father's leadership, the empire was given renewed purpose in world domination. In order to bolster the might of his armies, Xande entered into a pact with the Cloud of Darkness, a sovereign among voidsent, and granted their kind passage to the world of men in return for their aid in assuring the supremacy of his reign.

The Crystal Tower played a key role in all of these events. Built to harness the power of the sun, it provided the sprawling empire with energy during its heyday. When the empire fell into decline, Amon used that selfsame energy to resurrect Xande, and Xande in turn used it to open a gate to the void.

Eventually, the emperor resolved to welcome the Cloud of Darkness herself into our world, a feat which would require a voidgate of heretofore unseen proportions. To this end, he commanded that the eikon Bahamut, captured in Meracydia, be encapsulated within a massive iron sphere. The sphere was launched into the heavens and set into motion alongside the moon, where it utilized the wyrm's affinity to fire-aspected aether to accumulate solar energy in a more concentrated form. Yet while the tower had been fortified to channel the increased flow, the land upon which it had been built could not withstand the immense forces. The Crystal Tower's collapse triggered a series of earthquakes which shook the entire realm, bringing about the Third Umbral Calamity and consigning the Allagan Empire to oblivion.

For five millennia the Crystal Tower lay buried and forgotten, until the violence of the Seventh Umbral Era coaxed it from its resting place. Awakened from his long slumber, Emperor Xande once more sought to fulfill his nihilistic ambitions, but he would be thwarted by the stout souls of the fellowship of NOAH and their newfound comrades from the distant past.

Unending Codex Icon.pngUrianger
Acquired from: Friends for the Road
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Urianger Augurelt
Scion of the Seventh Dawn
Astrologian
An avid reader since he was old enough to hold a tome, Urianger spent his youth engrossed in books of prophecy. Eastern, Western, modern, historical─the young Elezen devoured all manner of sources concerning his favorite subject, though in so doing acquired an erudite vocabulary and poetic mannerisms that alienated his peers. His steadfast studiousness─along with the encouragement of his childhood friend, Moenbryda─did, however, enable him to enter the Studium under the auspices of the foremost authority on prophecy, Archon Louisoix. Indeed, it is thought that Urianger elected to join the Circle of Knowing to learn the truth of Mezaya Thousand Eyes's Divine Chronicles, a work that hinted at the coming of the Seventh Umbral Calamity.

In the moons preceding said Calamity, Urianger sought to share his knowledge with the people of Eorzea, but his doomsaying only served to earn him an unflattering reputation. After the prophecies came to pass, and his beloved mentor was lost in the fires of Cartenau, he and the other remnants of the Circle of Knowing joined with the Path of the Twelve to form the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Thenceforth, Urianger became a fixture in the halls of the Waking Sands.

Although his profound knowledge of history has ever been a boon to the Scions, Urianger's verbose explanations and dry manner have given rise to interpersonal tensions. Of particular note are the events following Moenbryda's death during the confrontation with the Ascian Nabriales, when a grieving and guilt-stricken Urianger took it upon himself to treat with Elidibus in secret. In so doing, he learned long-lost secrets, which he used to sabotage the Ascian's plot to manipulate the Warriors of Darkness. While he had the best of intentions, the decisions he made without the input of his allies─such as orchestrating the journey of Minfilia, the Word of the Mother, to the First─and their consequences would long weigh heavy on his heart.

To compound his turmoil, Urianger was pressured into deceiving his allies once more when the Crystal Exarch summoned him to the First. After divulging his true identity as G'raha Tia, the Exarch implored him to pretend that his own knowledge of future tragedies was a vision Urianger had witnessed when passing between worlds. Believing this fiction was essential for the success of the Exarch's plan to prevent the Eighth Umbral Calamity through his personal sacrifice, Urianger reluctantly agreed and retreated to Il Mheg. However, when the truth was finally laid bare, the Warrior of Light─then the Warrior of Darkness─refused to allow the Exarch to trade his life for the star's safety, rendering the deception meaningless.

Urianger, overcome with regret, resolved to be more forthright and emotionally open with his comrades from that day forward. Upon returning to the Source and being confronted with the reality of the Final Days, he played a key role in facilitating cooperation between the people of Etheirys and the moon-dwelling Loporrits. But it was not until a tearful reunion with Moenbryda's parents, who welcomed him as they would a son, that he began to feel as though he was growing into the man he wanted to be. Ultimately, it was the relationships Urianger cultivated that would see the ship Ragnarok take to the stars, and hope restored to the star.

Unending Codex Icon.pngVrtra
Acquired from: Alzadaal's Legacy
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Vrtra
Satrap of Radz-at-Han
This kind-hearted dragon is one of the seven sired by Midgardsormr in a time before mankind's memory. The talismans made from his green-black scales are treasured by those Scions and Alliance members fortunate enough to possess them, as they provide protection against soul-warping aether.

Vrtra took up residence on the cliffs of Thavnair long before the founding of Radz-at-Han. The Matanga came next to the isle, but they knew well enough to let sleeping dragons lie. They were followed by the Au Ra, who despite cultural differences maintained cordial relations with their new neighbors. It was not until the coming of Hyuran colonizers that Thavnair knew war─and it was Vrtra who emerged to quell it ere its flames consumed the land. The various tribes welcomed his intervention, yet he remained convinced that however grateful they may be, they would never be content to let a dragon lord over them─and there would never be lasting peace. And so he asked Alzadaal of the Au Ra to lead the people in public as Vrtra himself withdrew into the shadows...whence he would provide guidance to the satrap and his successors. Thus was the isle united under the banner of Radz-at-Han.

As Alzadaal and his descendants ruled the diverse Radz-at-Han for centuries, behind the scenes, Vrtra was no less devoted to her people. In fact, he was closer to them than they knew, for he oft embedded one of his eyes in alchemical simulacra of men that he might walk among them. Many of these simulacra would be sent abroad as representatives of the satrap at one point or another, there to be made permanent ambassadors─providing a convenient excuse for the wyrm to switch vessels.

When the Final Days came to his beloved home, twisting his people into beasts for whom death was a mercy, Vrtra realized that things could not continue as before. Loyal Ahewann, the erstwhile satrap, had fallen protecting the citizens, and to honor his final wish, Vrtra would have to become satrap in name as well as deed. With a little encouragement from Estinien, he at last revealed himself to the Hannish people as their longtime protector.

In the wake of an apocalypse averted, Thavnair began to rebuild under Vrtra's auspices. His simulacrum is frequently spotted out and about in Radz-at-Han, and while the public is no longer fooled by his diminutive guise, he is yet resolved to traverse the city as a man might, to better understand their plight and ensure that no quarter is left wanting.

Unending Codex Icon.pngThe First Brood
Acquired from: A Brother's Grief
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The First Brood
Though there are many exceptional dragons, the wyrms of the first brood are beyond compare. In a time before reckoning, Midgardsormr traversed the great expanse, bearing seven eggs as he searched for a new home. Arriving upon Hydaelyn, he formed a pact with the will of the star and secured for his children a bounteous dominion. The wyrms born of this clutch would grow into Hraesvelgr, Nidhogg, Ratatoskr, Bahamut, Tiamat, Azdaja, and Vrtra─beings of immense power and majesty. The seven then scattered to the far reaches of the world, there to spawn broods of their own, and thus did the dragons become legion.

Though they have the capacity to live for nigh on an eternity, several of the first brood have fallen. Bahamut was vanquished by the Allagans in the Third Astral Era, while Ratatoskr and Nidhogg's deaths marked the beginning and end of the Dragonsong War respectively.

Hraesvelgr, Tiamat, and Vrtra remain among the living. Vrtra, the youngest, is perhaps the most prominent of late, owing to his long-standing relationship with the people of Thavnair. Instrumental in establishing the nation of Radz-at-Han, he has long guided it from the shadows, only to recently reveal himself and formally assume the role of satrap in the wake of the Final Days.

Azdaja's status─whether she is alive or dead, much less where she may be─is currently unknown.

Unending Codex Icon.pngAether
Acquired from: A Brother's Grief
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Aether
This vital energy is essential to life as we know it.

For a being to be classified as “living,” it requires both a soul and physical vitality, each of which is composed of aether. Scholars posit that this aether can and must be restored throughout life via the consumption and digestion of sustenance─whether this is the primary factor in the body's need for nourishment is unclear, but what we do know is that the critical depletion of aether will result in physical or spiritual death.

Aether manifests in many ways aside from the aforementioned two, including magical phenomena both natural and of man's design. Most importantly, it flows imperceptibly throughout the world, forming the great Lifestream to which all life one day returns, as well as the smaller aether currents that drive the winds and carry the winged aloft. Without aether's blessings, our star would be a barren and desolate hell.

Upon death, a being's aether disperses, and passes from the mundane physical world into the aetherial realm. However, where many lives are lost suddenly due to violence or calamity, or the flow of the Lifestream itself is disrupted, the aether may instead coalesce upon the physical plane, forming the crystals with which our star is replete.

Unending Codex Icon.pngFourchenault
Acquired from: Bridging the Rift
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Fourchenault Leveilleur
Sharlayan Forum Representative
An Elezen born and raised in Old Sharlayan, Fourchenault is one of the more influential members of the Forum, his nation's governing body. This council, formed of ninety-nine elected representatives, dictates Sharlayan's course for matters great and small, be they minor regulations or national policy. Indeed, it was by the Forum's decree that, in response to the imperial invasion of Ala Mhigo, the Sharlayan colony in the Dravanian hinterlands was abandoned nearly overnight─an event referred to by many as simply “the exodus.”

In addition to his political power, Fourchenault also wields authority as the patriarch of the Leveilleurs, one of Sharlayan's oldest families. Its lineage can be traced back to the nation's founders who arrived aboard Nyunkrepf's Hope during the Sixth Umbral Calamity. Thus does the family keep Nyunkrepf's words as its creed. “Renounce the ways of war, and pursue enlightenment through knowledge and reason”─so spoke Sharlayan's first leader, and so too does Fourchenault Leveilleur.

Until recently, Fourchenault was driven to fulfill a singular purpose─one which the Forum had pursued in secret for two hundred and seventy years. Having learned of the Final Days through an unexpected communion with Hydaelyn in the aetherial sea, Sharlayan's elite set to work developing a ship by which to ferry their people─and their hard-won stores of knowledge─to the moon, thence to search for a new home among the stars.

Fourchenault's dedication to this plan grew more fervent after his wife Ameliance gave birth to their two children, Alphinaud and Alisaie. Desperate to ensure the twins escaped the coming apocalypse, he threw himself into his work with a determination bordering on obsession. The death of his own father, Archon Louisoix, during the Seventh Umbral Calamity only served to deepen his resolve.

As the Final Days drew closer, Fourchenault was consumed by fear for his children's safety and disapproval of their continued association with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. He vowed to get them aboard Sharlayan's ship by any means necessary, even should it cost him what remained of their already strained relationship. However, when the twins accomplished the impossible by optimizing the ship's aetherburner, he came to understand that their conviction would not be denied─nor should it. Unburdening his heart, he at last reconciled with his family and embraced the monumental responsibility of saving the star.

The ship he dubbed the Ragnarok would travel to the very end of the universe, delivering the heroes who would defeat the threat he had so long feared.

Unending Codex Icon.pngEorzea
Acquired from: Restricted Reading
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Eorzea
Comprised of Aldenard, the westernmost of the Three Great Continents, and its surrounding islands, the realm of Eorzea has, throughout history, been the cradle of several unique civilizations. Rich in aether and blessed with an abundance of natural resources, it is often said to be “embraced by gods” in reference to the Twelve─the pillars upon which the religious faith of many Eorzeans firmly rests.

As recently as a few decades ago, the six city-states of Eorzea coexisted in an age of relative stability. Alas, this peace was shattered in the year 1557 of the Sixth Astral Era, when the Garlean Empire embarked upon a campaign of Eorzean conquest. Ala Mhigo soon fell, and the promise of continued violence saw the nation of Sharlayan abandon its Dravanian colony, recalling its citizens to the motherland in the northern seas. In this way was Eorzea plunged once more into an age of strife.

The Seventh Umbral Calamity followed, bringing with it unspeakable devastation, but the resilient people of Eorzea endured. Joining hands in common cause, they eventually succeeded in defeating the imperial invaders. In Ishgard, the millennium-long Dragonsong War was later brought to an end, and after a joint campaign by the Eorzean Alliance and the Ala Mhigan Resistance, the twenty-year Garlean occupation of Ala Mhigo ended in liberation. Thus did the realm obtain a measure of peace.

Unending Codex Icon.pngThe Seventh Umbral Calamity
Acquired from: Restricted Reading
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The Seventh Umbral Calamity
The history of Eorzea is marked by a repeated cycle of devastation (Umbral Eras) and prosperity (Astral Eras). The first six Astral Eras were each preceded by a calamity corresponding to one of the six elements. Following on from the Calamity of Wind, which ushered in the First Astral Era, the Calamity of Lightning brought destructive thunderstorms, the Calamity of Fire withering droughts, the Calamity of Earth devastating earthquakes, the Calamity of Ice an endless winter, and the Calamity of Water a lands-consuming deluge.

With all the elements accounted for, many scholars convinced themselves that there could not be another calamity─that the Sixth Astral Era would last indefinitely. Alas, the Seventh Umbral Calamity would indeed befall the land, triggered when the Garlean legatus Nael van Darnus saw the Meteor project to fruition. Dalamud, Hydaelyn's lesser moon, was plucked from the heavens, and upon its arrival above central Eorzea, it split apart to reveal the elder primal Bahamut, who, in a fit of inchoate anger, laid waste to anything and everything around him. However, owing to the countermeasure enacted by the Archon Louisoix, the realm was spared complete annihilation, and after the ashes had settled, underwent a remarkable rebirth.

Five years on from that fateful day, the forces of the Eorzean Alliance succeeded in defeating Legatus Gaius van Baelsar and his occupying XIVth Imperial Legion. Though other threats still remained, this victory marked a turning point in the fortunes of the realm, and so it was proclaimed that, by the light of the Crystal, the Seventh Astral Era had come, and the realm was at last truly reborn.